1. Field of the Invention
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-001446, filed on Jan. 9, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a refrigerator comprises a main body having a storage compartment to accommodate food and a machine compartment to keep the temperature of the storage compartment and a door connected to a part of the main body to open/close the door opening.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional refrigerator comprises a main body 10 and a door 11 mounted on the main body 10 to open/close a door opening of the storage compartment 13 in an up-and-down direction.
As shown in FIG. 2, the main body has a storage compartment 13 provided inside the main body 10 to accommodate a container 15 and a machine compartment 17 to keep the temperature of the compartment 13.
The conventional refrigerator has become larger and the container accommodated in the storage compartment as well. Thus, a user should lift the heavy container put in a lower part of the large storage compartment.
Korean Patent First Publication No. 2001-0028446 discloses a lift for a container of a refrigerator. The lift comprises a plurality of springs supported on a supporting plate of a bottom of container to produce an elastic force. Thus, the lift is moved down when the door is closed and the lift is moved up due to the elastic force when the door is opened.
However, the conventional refrigerator having the lift activated only by the springs requires a spring with more elasticity as the container becomes heavier. Further, a user should press the spring by using only his own force when the user closes the door. Only the elastic force of the lift lifts the container up when the user opens the door, so that a lifting amount is varied according to the weight of the container. If the container is heavy, the lifting amount is small and the container may not be lifted as a necessary of the user.